


Quintessentially Unreal

by Lyricanna



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Complicated Relationships, M/M, Modern AU, More tags and warnings to be updated as needed, PI AU, Slow Burn, sort of follows cannon, this is a result of too many crime shows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-05-18 00:14:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14841909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyricanna/pseuds/Lyricanna
Summary: Niles is a private investigator with a new client.  The further into the case he gets, the more apparent it becomes that his client isn't telling him everything.





	1. Chapter 1

Niles stifled a yawn as he dropped into his chair. He started work at noon but he was still well and truly a night owl. Despite the coffee waiting for him, he knew it would be another two or three hours until he was truly awake feeling. He glanced at the schedule on his desk and sighed. Two or three hours or until the first idiot wasting his time showed up.

He glanced across the shared office space at his coworker, Kaze, who was once again hip deep in more cases than he should be able to handle. He was sorting through photographs, putting everything into carefully labelled file folders. Probably another trafficking case; Kaze specialized in those. Despite his polite and patient demeanour, he had a sombre streak. Niles had given up teasing him months ago, although he couldn't help but flirt once in a while. At least when Shura wasn't there; the old man did not tolerate slacking off in any way.

Niles started in on his coffee and began to look up his potential clients to get a feel for what they might be coming in for. He was getting sick of the cheating cases; too many clients threw fits when they got confirmation of their spouse sleeping around, even if they suspected it. The missing spouse cases often ended in the same conclusion: cheaters. Cases where he could go under cover and get evidence of some business violating human rights or breaking the law were more satisfying. As were the missing persons cases; no matter the outcome, at least they tended to bring the families some peace.

Finding out people's secrets was one of Niles' only real skills and he was thankful that it could get him a licence and a job. Most people were screwed up; figuring out why, what they were hiding and how to use it was interesting. If they weren't, waiting for them to crash was more so. Besides, learning to use a camera to gather proof was a great extra skill to have; if he ever got let go or needed extra cash, he could at least do some freelance work. Working for a private investigative firm gave him legitimacy although it never did lose him the title of creep. It did keep the bills paid and his cat fed, so he couldn't really complain.

The sound of the door opening made Niles look up from his computer. A quick glance at the online schedule showed that Shura was on lunch and neither he nor Kaze had appointments. A walk-in then. Rare but not unheard of.

The man who approached his desk was attractive; early twenties, blond hair, green eyes, an elegant bearing and tall but slender frame. He wore a serious expression and carried a leather bound folder under one arm. His clothes were likely tailored to him. Which meant the paycheck wouldn't bounce, at least.

“Are you Niles Nadir?” he asked with a hint of hesitation.

“I am,” Niles replied as politely as possible. His face wasn't one to inspire easy conversation and he was told that his posture was naturally hostile. “What brings you in today?”

“My name is Leo Le Noir and I am looking to hire you to help me find my missing sister.” Without waiting for an invitation, Leo sat in the chair across from Niles.

“Have you gone to the police?”

“Yes and because she's twenty-one they won't do anything as there is no proof of foul play,” Leo replied with obvious vexation.

“How long has she been gone?”

“Almost two weeks.” Niles leaned back at that. The chances of her being alive were slim if she had been abducted. If she had just run off, she might not want to be found; which was probably why the police didn't care enough to look.

“Is there any reason for her to take off without a word?”

“No. My siblings and I are very close with her. She would never just leave.”

“And your parents?” Niles asked as neutrally as possible.

“Our mothers are dead and our father is as well.”

“No arguments with anyone else?”

“No, she just told our older brother she was excited to see everyone again two days before she disappeared. She isn't picking up her phone and there has been no activity with her bank card or credit card. She lives out of town for university and her friends are at just as much of a loss as we are.” He rubbed his temple, wearing the exasperated and exhausted look of a man who had had this conversation too many times before.

“After this amount of time, the chances of finding her in one piece are quite low unless she did just take off,” Niles said as gently as he could. Leo simply nodded but didn't reply.

“Do you have reason to believe that someone abducted her?”

“Her bag was found in the university parking lot. Her notebooks were there but her phone, laptop and wallet were gone. The police didn't find any other DNA on it though... Here it's in the file.” Leo slid the folder across the desk. Niles flipped through; incident reports, photos, statements to the police from family and friends, photos of the parking lot... He stopped at those. They weren't security camera photos. What university parking lot couldn't afford a security camera?

“Anything from security?”

“No, the camera was being repaired the day it happened.”

“Pretty big coincidence,” Niles mused. A spark of hope lit up Leo's eyes and Niles quickly looked back down at the folder. He was a very pretty man and also a potential customer. Getting personally involved would be just asking for trouble.

“If I take this case, I need you to know that it could be a long one with very few results or a short one with results that may upset you.” Leo's face hardened and he nodded. Niles opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a clipboard and his business card. “Here's the standard contract, the policies, fees and contact information. Text or give me a call if new information comes your way. I can call or meet up with you to update you, whichever you prefer.”

Leo took the clipboard and pulled a pen from the folder he had handed to Niles. He filled out the forms with hardly a second glance and wrote the deposit cheque without batting an eye. Niles couldn't help but respect his composure.

“I'm also going to need her social security number, any credit card or bank statements for the past three months and for you or one of your family members to show me around her university and apartment just in case the police missed anything. Given the time that's passed, being able to look around sooner would be better.”

“I'll get the keys from Xander and we can go tomorrow, if that fits your schedule.” Niles glanced at the open schedule on his computer, shifted a couple of intake appointments to Shrua's unreasonably long lunch break and nodded.

“I'll be waiting for you,” he said with a grin before he could stop himself.

Leo gave him a perplexed glance and stood up to leave. Niles got up and escorted him to the door. He watched Leo walk across the road to a sleek black car.

“You shouldn't look at him like that,” Kaze said from Niles' shoulder. He turned and looked at his green haired co-worker. “Especially since you took such a hopeless case.”

“Says the man who is still trying to solve a fifteen year old murder in his spare time,” Niles responded.

“I know who the perpetrator is, I just need to find him and the evidence to prove that he rigged the investigation,” Kaze replied smoothly, as he had many times before.

“Well best of luck with that, pretty.”

“I don't know what you seem to see in me.” Kaze wore a tiny smile and shook his head.

“Ask any girl you meet and I'm sure they could explain.”

“If you say so.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Niles forced himself to get through the rest of his appointments as pleasantly as possible. The first was a man convinced that someone was out to get him but was vague about who and why. He couldn't pay regardless, so Kaze referred him to a mental health centre and politely showed him out. The second was a woman insisting that her husband coming out as trans was a violation of their wedding vows and that if she wanted a divorce, it clearly did not violate the prenup, if only she had proof of what else he was up to... Niles almost threw her out bodily. He hoped that her spouse found a happy life away from her bigoted sense of self importance. The third was almost the typical cheating case; a man thought his husband was cheating on him with a woman. It was just ironic enough to pique Niles' interest and the man paid the deposit in cash besides.

He spent the last of his office hours doing some background research on his new client. Google was almost as good as spying on people; what people willingly put online always thrilled and amused him. The first image results were from news papers and blogs; apparently pretty little Leo was something of a prodigy; graduated high school with the highest grades in the city and awards in several subjects. He graduated college early with two degrees, one in accounting – very practical – and the other in history, which was a novel combination. The family ran a very successful flower and gift shop; they had been featured in every home and garden magazine of note. Apparently they exported their arrangements to other city states and had done arrangements for several celebrity weddings.

A family photo from one of the news stories gave Niles his first view of the missing sister, Corrin, as per Leo's paperwork. The oldest was Xander a handsome (and if Niles guessed correctly) probably closeted man – try as he might he couldn't find anything about him being gay, which was a shame – with a stern expression and cheekbones that could cut glass. The oldest sister, Camilla was their marketing agent and a former beauty pageant winner; he whistled at the sight of her, voluptuous and gorgeous in every photo (and there were _a lot_ of photos of her). Leo, serious, handsome and of a height with Corrin, kept drawing Niles' eye though. He really did have a type. Cheery Elise who was a vision of what every parent wanted their little girl to look like. The entire family was damnably attractive. It had to be a crime.

Then there was Corrin. Where Leo, Xander and Elise had light gold hair, Corrin's was so pale as to be somewhere between cream and white. Xander and Elise had dark eyes, while Camilla and Leo had the same pale green. Corrin's were almost red. She had that enthusiasm in her gaze that said she would accomplish great things. But there was no way she was related to the other four. Nothing in her round, gentle face could be mistaken for relation to the others. Camilla, Xander and Leo all had high cheek bones and an elegant facial structure, long noses and high brows. Elise shared the high brow and her nose was similar enough to Camilla's. But Corrin's nose was shorter, her lips fuller; even her ears were less rounded and longer than the others. She had to have been adopted, no matter what Leo had said about both their mothers being dead.

He started looking up adoption records and came across nothing for a Corrin Le Noire, which wasn't entirely unexpected given that he was lacking an adoption date and she might have legally retained a different last name, even if she used her adoptive name socially. Niles then tried to look up anything about the dead father. His name was Garon Le Noire and aside from an eight year old obituary, there wasn't much else to find. He was in his seventies when he died; nothing strange about that. And nothing too odd about minimal information about an old guy who had been dead for eight years on the internet. He probably didn't know or care much about social media when he had been alive, Niles thought wryly.

Then again, aside from Corrin and Elise, the rest of the siblings' social media pages were set to private, viewable by mutuals only. Which was a shame, since Niles wouldn't mind a few extra photos of Leo... He shook his head. This was one case and then Leo would be out of his life, just like every other client. No matter how much he loved blondes, it was not the time to develop a crush. He shut down the computer and grabbed his camera. He had other work to do.

~

Niles rolled over at the sound of his phone vibrating. A thunk let him know that his cat, Eponine had smacked it off the bedside table. He reached over the edge of the bed and felt along the floor until he found his cell phone. Eponine jumped on the bed and walked up to his shoulder, purring in his ear. He rubbed his good eye and looked at the message on the screen.

 _“I have the keys. Is noon good?”_ Niles' sleep deprived brain took a moment to connect the dots. The pretty boy and the missing sister. Right. He looked at the time as Eponine head butted the back of his head. 10:30AM. Enough time to shower and get to the office. He rolled back onto the bed properly and his cat growled at him for making her move. He didn't even know cats could growl before he had adopted her. He tried to scratch her head in consolation but she swatted at him with her claws out and darted away.

Niles quickly typed a response and waited for the read receipt to show. He grabbed some clothes, setting aside a pair of pants that Eponine had seen fit to dislodge a hairball on and went to grab a shower. This was why he didn't do mornings, he thought as he got into the shower. He was too tired from night time stakeouts to do anything complicated before noon.

By the time he was clean and dressed, he was awake enough to remember to feed his cat and check his camera.

“Damn it,” he muttered, “battery's dead.” He sighed and plugged it in. His phone would have to do for today; it was at least charged and he could bring a car charger with him just in case. He'd just have to review last night's work later.

A glance at the time told him he had just enough time to grab a coffee on his way in, so he pocketed his wallet and phone, grabbed his keys and left. It was a good twenty minute walk that had become so familiar that he could probably manage it with his eye closed. It was easy enough to dodge the early lunch crowd and street vendors selling cheap jewellery or cheaper food. He tossed a few coins to a street violinist who was quite good despite his ugly face and slipped into the coffee shop, thankful that the line was short.

Deciding to be charitable, he texted Kaze to see if he wanted another tea; bribery was the best way to get his coworker to cover for him when he was late, after all. His order was quickly placed and handed over to him. Everything was going quite well so far, he thought as he left with a coffee in one hand and a tea in the other.

Just as he was turning away from the door, someone ran into him and he almost dropped both drinks. He looked up, ready to cuss out whoever it had been.

“Sorry, I didn't see you the- Niles is that you?” Shit. His ex.

“Yeah and I'm almost sad that I didn't end up dumping this coffee on you,” he replied. He couldn't help himself, his feelings were still too mixed up.

“I said I was sorry,” the red head replied as he drew himself up. Which apology he was referring to was open to interpretation.

 _I am so not awake enough for this_ , Niles thought. “Wait didn't you move back to Hoshido?”

“Yeah, I'm just here in Windmire for a couple of days on business,” Tsubaki replied awkwardly.

“Well I'm about to be late for mine, so if you'd excuse me...”

Tsubaki shook his head. “Your ability to make even the most polite sentences sound venomous is still astounding. I won't keep you though.”

“No, you never wanted to, did you?” Niles snapped as he continued on his way. Whatever Tsubaki had said was lost in the noise of the street. It was unfair but so was life.

~

By the time he made it to the office, he was late, irritable and had no tolerance for bullshit. It usually took another hour or two to get him to that point, but his ex was great at hitting weak points that he didn't even know he possessed.

Kaze murmured a word of thanks as Niles put the tea on his desk. He then went over to his desk and saw a note taped to his computer screen. He couldn't help but smirk as he read it.

_Niles. You're a little shit. Don't reschedule my appointments without talking to me first. You know the policy, damn it. -Shura_

Niles couldn't help himself; he grabbed a sticky note and scribbled a quick reply.

_Shura; policy states that lunch hour is to be ONE hour. Please justify the two hours you have been taking instead – I'd LOVE to know what takes you so long. ~ Niles_

He went and stuck the note on Shura's office door and went back to his desk. He unlocked the drawer that contained Leo's folder and began to review everything in it again.

“Are you two at it again?” Kaze asked from across the room.

“Gonna report him to the PI commission and licensing authorities for employee abuse?” Niles replied sweetly.

“You're as bad as each other,” Kaze shook his head as he replied.

“Don't see why it bothers you; it's not like you get abusive sticky notes,” Niles grinned. “Unless you feel left out of course, then I could always start something...”

“Thank you, no,” he replied flatly.

Niles' phone buzzed and he decided it would be better to check his texts than continue to attempt to rile up Kaze.

 _“I'm here,”_ was all the text said. Niles gathered the folder and his coffee and walked back outside. He quickly found the same sleek black car from the day before, idling a little ways down from the office. He didn't know much about car makes and models, but he knew this one was expensive.

Slipping into the passenger seat, Niles issued a quick apology. “Sorry if I'm late. It's been one hell of a morning.”

“I just got here,” Leo replied. “It's going to be a bit of a drive. Is there anything you need?”

“Got my coffee, I'm good.”

“Seat belt, please.”

Niles stared at him for a moment before complying. A stickler for the rules, apparently. And a tendency towards proper clothing too; a deep blue button up shirt, a black jacket and pants that looked neatly pressed. Not a single one of his pale gold hairs were out of place. Meanwhile Niles was in jeans, a t-shirt and running shoes. As much as he liked black combat boots, running shoes were more practical for work. His white curls had been combed hastily and the wind had blown them around on his walk over. They were going to make for an odd pair.

Leo nodded as if he had won some sort of exchange, checked the roads and pulled out. The car was surprisingly quiet; must be one of the newer hybrid or electric models. Leo hit a button on the wheel and classical music began to stream from the radio. So it was going to be _that_ sort of trip.

“How long of a drive is it to Valla anyway?” he asked for the sake of conversation.

“An hour and a half, if the roads are good,” Leo replied.

Niles adjusted his seat and leaned back, so he could be more comfortable. This was going to be a very long ride. At least he'd finally get to enjoy his coffee.

~

Corrin's apartment was in a re-purposed factory that was now full of chic rentals for more money than any student could possibly make in a month. It was a loft style, decently spacious and decorated with flower planters and paintings of the ocean. It was beautiful, expensive and it was obvious that Xander had spared nothing for her comfort.

“Xander – my older brother – paid the full school year's worth of rent back in September. Corrin was going to take a summer course after this term ended. Camilla – my older sister – doesn't want anyone to break the lease, in case we get Corrin back. She comes and tends to the plants once a week,” Leo explained as he took his shoes off and set his keys on the counter.

“Has she cleaned up at all?”

“She took out the kitchen garbage and did the dishes, but Corrin's room is as it was and so is her desk.”

“Let's see this room then.”

Leo led him to the stairs and opened the first door they came to; the second presumably led to a bathroom. The bedroom was a sky blue and and had cork boards on two of the walls, all filled with photos of friends and family. The bed frame was of a dark wood that matched the bedside table and the dresser. She had fairy lights along one wall and the deep blue curtains were pulled back to let in the light.

Niles glanced around; no waste bin in this room. He went and examined the cork boards, looking for any hint of someone who was going to run off. No receipts for train or bus tickets, no notes about any specific dates, nothing that suggested anything of use to him. He walked over to the bed, which was made, and looked under all of the pillows and the mattress, to see if anything was hidden there. Nothing. He went to the closet to see if she had extra purses stored away; the one he found was empty except for a pack of gum.

“Her desk is back downstairs?” he asked, after coming up with nothing. He turned to see Leo straightening the bed, as if the neatness was important.

“Yes it is,” he said absently.

“I'll be down there then. This is probably hard so take your time.” Niles squeezed Leo's shoulder as comfortingly as he could manage before slipping out the door and down the stairs. He soon found Corrin's desk, in the living room. It faced the TV so that she could presumably watch a show and work at the same time. There was an empty spot on top of the desk, likely the home of the missing laptop. He sat down at the desk and began to pull the drawers open. The first held textbooks and handouts from her courses, the second drawer, which was the smallest, held gel pens, highlighters, pencils and erasers, all in a jumble. The third drawer was the largest and held spare laptop cables and a jumble of papers.

Niles pulled out the papers and began to flip through; old assignments, study sheets, a note about meeting someone for coffee a week before she went missing, another note about returning a book to Nyx, whoever that was, and on the last page, a phone number with no associated name. He quickly photographed the phone number and the note about the coffee date; flimsy leads but they were all he had so far. He upended the waste bin next and examined every piece of paper in there, only to learn that Corrin ate a lot of take-out sushi and smoothies. He shoved everything back in with a sigh and dusted his hands off on his jeans.

Niles stood and almost jumped when he saw Leo standing so close; he hadn't even heard him approach!

“Anywhere she might keep any important notes or anything?” he asked to mask his irritation.

“Her phone or her notebooks, but the phone is gone and the notebooks are locked away in evidence.”

“With Valla police or Nohrian authorities?”

“Valla, unless something has changed.”

“Did Corrin have a friend named Nyx?” Niles asked, changing tracks quickly.

“Yes. Quiet girl, loves to read and apparently could tell fortunes... but she didn't do it often,” Leo said as flatly as possible. Niles had heard of weirder things than fortune tellers in his job, so he shrugged it off.

“And do you know who Corrin might have grabbed coffee with on the Thursday before she went missing?”

“No she didn't mention that to me. She might have told one of the others, so I'll ask my siblings when I get in. It's probably just one of her friends though. Silas or Nyx or Flora. Her friend Jakob works at one of the local coffee shops, so she might have just dropped in to see him.” All that with hardly a blink. Was Leo just in the state of grief where he desperately wanted a normal explanation or was he hiding something?

“Do you have reason to suspect that it might be someone else?” he asked cooly.

“No. Corrin wasn't dating anyone or interested in dating. She wouldn't hide that from us.” Yet Leo sounded less sure than he had been.

“I'm sure you'll let me know if one of your siblings tells you otherwise.” Leo nodded vigorously and Niles couldn't help but smile. He was barely older than his missing sister, no matter how serious he was. It was an odd reminder of how much younger than Niles he was.

“So why is it I'm dealing with you and not your older brother or sister anyway?”

“I doubt you'd rather work with either of them,” Leo replied with a smirk. “They'd drive you way harder than I am.”

 _You could drive me hard,_ Niles thought. He shoved the errant thought aside; this was business after all. “Still, seems weird that the older ones aren't pursuing this.”

“They've done their own searches and put up a reward for her safe return but they can't afford to neglect the family business for long. They don't mind my taking the time, even if they don't think it'll help. Not that they've given up!” Leo added hastily. “I think they just need the distraction of work.”

Niles nodded and tried to give Leo a sympathetic smile.

“I'd like to speak to them at some point, to see if there's anything they have to add or if they've received any tips. Other than that, I think I'm done here.”

“Did you find anything else?”

“A phone number that I want to look into, but it could be nothing. Did you get me those records for her bank and credit card transactions?”

“Ah yes, they're in the car.”

“I'll also want to get the phone company's records of her calls and texts, if they can be convinced to give them to you,” Niles added as he headed for the apartment door.

“Is there anything else you can do before you get those?” Leo asked. Niles looked back quickly enough to catch the look of despair on Leo's face before he masked it.

“There is one thing, but I'm not going to enjoy it.”

“What's that?”

“I have an... acquaintance. On the police force. He happens to owe me a favour but I fuc-” he cut off at a look from Leo. “That is, he uh, gets under my skin and I don't like him.” Niles turned away, surprised and irritated that Leo had so easily managed to make him watch his language. No one had ever managed to do that with just a look before.

“I appreciate you calling in the favour, but don't expect much. The police haven't been helpful about any of this.”

“They don't like admitting when they don't know anything, so instead they just pretend there's no problem. So much simpler that way.” Niles said mockingly. They walked across the parking lot, towards Leo's car.

“It isn't right,” Leo snapped stubbornly.

“Not much in this world is,” Niles replied without thinking.

“I don't have to like it,” Leo said firmly. The note of challenge in his voice had Niles readying a snide reply, which died on his lips when he saw Leo's face; he looked really good when he was pissed off. Niles bit his tongue to refrain from telling Leo that. Instead he simply shrugged as Leo turned away from him and unlocked the car. He sighed and tried to think of ways to salvage the car ride back to Windmire as he settled himself in the car. The trip back was going to feel longer than the trip here if he couldn't.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

It was almost 4:30PM by the time they made it back to Windmire. Traffic was always bad in the afternoons, but Niles didn't drive often, so he sort of forgot about it until he was stuck in it. Leo hadn't said much on the drive back and Niles hadn't been able to come up with anything to talk about. He didn't like small talk unless he was poking fun at other people. Professionalism had its downsides. Leo dropped him at the office with a wordless good bye and sped off.

Niles nodded to Kaze who was packing up to leave. It looked like he'd have the place to himself, which was how he preferred it. It was much easier to focus that way.

Once he had his phone messages taken care of, Niles sat staring at the number on his cell phone, avoiding the dial button. He hadn't been joking when he said that he didn't like this guy. And he knew from experience it wouldn't be a short phone call either. He sighed and forced himself to hit the button. If he was lucky he wouldn't answer. No that wasn't quite true; if he was lucky, he'd get an answer from an already busy cop eager to get on with a more exciting part of his job. Niles wasn't lucky.

“If it isn't the sneakiest truth seeker –”

“Cut the crap Arthur. I need a favour.”

“So hasty. No “how are you Arthur?” or “how goes the fight for justice?” or any sort of pleasantry. As if we weren't even friends –”

“We're not. We're professional acquaintances. At best,” Niles replied, trying not to grind his teeth.

“All this after I've been defending you to those that only see the delinquent you used to be. No amount of saying that “you're okay in my books” or that “you're not a thief” to people who would arrest you without a thought is going to earn me any thanks from you, is it?”

“No, it's not. Because it's not how you're paying me back. I need to cash in that favour for a case, and I'd like to do it now before you say anything else inane.”

“Fine. What is it?”

“I need evidence reports and any filed police reports on the Corrin Le Noire case, public or otherwise. Her brother is my client,” Niles explained as quickly as he could.

“Niles that would be against poli –”

“Why do you think I called your cell number? I need this off the records. And then we're even. No more pleasant phone calls.” Blessed, cursed silence met Niles in response. _If he hung up I swear_...

“I'll see what I can do. Between actual calls to justice.”

“Awesome. The sooner the better. Then you can go back to giving out parking tickets or whatever it is you do.”

“I am a servant of the people, a righter of wrongs, a crusader of – ” Niles disconnected the call and breathed a sigh of relief. That was one thing checked off the list. And a headache forming.

Niles looked through the bank records and phone records that Leo had provided. The credit card had not been cancelled but it also hadn't been used since before Corrin went missing. Her bank transactions dropped off the day before she went missing too. The phone records showed multiple calls to her siblings, the family shop on occasion and the friends that Leo had mentioned, most often a Nyx Evermore and a Silas Prostatevo. There were no names that he couldn't place and, most interestingly, the phone number that Niles had found in Corrin's desk didn't show up once. The phone use, including data, also dropped off the morning she went missing. Which meant that he had nothing, unless he could trace that number.

A few internet searches later confirmed that it was a privately owned cell phone number, with a Hoshidan area code. The city state of Hoshido was centred around the old Shirasagi castle, which lent its name to the central area. It was almost as far away from Valla as Windmire was, an eastern mirror of Windmire, in looks, history and culture. Which told Niles almost nothing, other than that Corrin had a possible acquaintance in the area. Given that the college in Valla drew students from both the Nohrian province, Cyrkensia to the south and Hoshido to the east, it wasn't that surprising. It was probably the number of a boy that she had accepted out of politeness and never intended to call back, he thought wryly.

To be sure, he phoned it anyways. After three rings, he got an automated voice that asked for a password in order for him to leave a message in the voicemail box. No name, no alternative number, just that. _Whoever owned the phone number must really hate telemarketers_.

Which left Niles with a whole lot of nothing, for an afternoon's worth of work. All he could do was hope that Arthur came through for him instead of reporting the conversation to a superior officer. _Not even Arthur is that stupid._ He hoped.

Niles' phone rang in his hand. There was no way Arthur was getting back to him that fast. Besides he'd just fax or e-mail the reports anyway. A glance at the screen showed no name and no number, just the words private caller.

“Maybe it's one of those free cruises,” Niles said wryly to himself as he picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Drop the Le Noire case,” a distorted, almost robotic voice replied. Niles immediately hit the record button on his phone.

“Or what?” he drawled into the phone.

“Drop the Le Noire case. Or your life will be in danger.”

“From who?” Niles asked, trying to mask his excitement. This was a first.

“You know everything you need to and you won't find out more. Drop the case.”

“How much are you willing to pay me to drop it?” Niles asked, trying to drag the call out.

“Your life should be enough, thief. Drop the case.” The masked voice of the speaker disconnected with a sharp click.

“Well, someone seems to think they know everything. About this and about me. How interesting,” Niles said to the empty air. He knew he should be worried, if not afraid. That was a definitive death threat. Which meant a call to his phone company to try and trace it and a police report; the police report would be the only thing that would spur the company to trace it.

It was dark by the time Niles left the office, but by then he had a good idea of what he was going to do. Anyone who saw his feral grin would have stepped warily, not that Niles would have noticed. Tonight was going to be interesting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but trying to get back into the swing of things. Sorry for the wait!

**Author's Note:**

> Last names are kind of corny but relate to the characters well enough. But they're fun to dream up. Title is from a Jill Tracy song because I associate cabaret music with the crime/dark romance genre. And I love her music and most of my work has a sound track.
> 
> I watch a lot of crime documentaries and eventually it was going to overflow into fandom somehow. It just happened to hit me with Leo and Niles earlier this week.
> 
> I hope to alternate between updating this and Forward so for those that have been left waiting there, life has been hectic but I haven't abandoned that fic!


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